


Two Halfs One Whole

by ConsumedFandomFrenzy



Category: Astro Boy (2009)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canonical Character Death, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Dynamics, Gen, M/M, Other, POV Second Person, POV Third Person, Robot Feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24533413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsumedFandomFrenzy/pseuds/ConsumedFandomFrenzy
Summary: Instead of one death, two teens get caught in the crossfire in the laboratory.And two grieving fathers build machines that change the world for the better.
Relationships: Astro Boy/Original Character(s), Astro Tenma/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is near and dear to my heart! My child heart would absolutely flip if this was real when I was younger.

“Ok class, before we begin, we have a transfer student joining us.”

The classroom door slid open, revealing a grey-eyed, long, straight red hair student robotically standing in front of the classroom. A silver hair clip in the student’s hair, glinting.

“Class, I’d like you to meet Remi Elefun.” The name alone had students in a stur, with a certain boy frowning in confusion. Dr. Elefun never talked about having a relative in town.

“Hello everyone,” You spoke without emotion, putting everyone on edge. “This is my first time going to public school, so please take care of me.”

“Welcome Remi. Take the empty set next to Toby.”

You blinked, and he awkwardly waved to indicate who the teacher’s talking about, and you silently sat, staring ahead. 

Toby scanned your features, looking for any trace of Dr. Elefun in your face, yet you looked nothing alike. Everything quieted and he refocused on the front, putting it out of his mind for now. 

“Alright class, let’s start today’s video. Remi, if you need to take the time to complete assignments, we have that option available for you.”

“I won’t be needing that.” You state plainly, and even the teacher even seemed a little unnerved. He coughs, moving on. “Okay everyone, time to start the video.”

You couldn’t help but toon out the video already bored out of your mind. You had told Dr. Elefun that you had no use for school; that the kids in your class would only get in your way, yet he had begged you. Said that it would be good to make friends my age.

You had to give in after a certain point. Disgust flooded through you, a robot cleaning the trash from the street gets hit by a car, and a teen gasps. Pointing. Not too soon after, a robot comes to clean up the broken one.

“Don’t worry folks,” The cheerful lady spoke. “that street will get clean. The best and the brightest of them get picked for more exciting tasks…” You zoned out again, until a kid asked, “hey toby, isn’t that your dad?”

“It sure is!

“Hush.”

“Our friends the robots help us. Thousands are created every day and thousands are disposed of in the great unending cycle that sustains life in our great city. Thanks for everything guys. May you rust in peace, hahahaha.” 

The screen shut off. What a waste.

“Okay students, ready for a pop quiz?”

All but two students groaned, some of them complaining about not being ready. “Begin.”  
All the desks lit up with the quiz, and you had picked up your pen and flicked through the answers in boredom.

Soon you raised your hand, the teacher responding in confusion. “Remi, we aren’t allowed to take questions on the quiz.”

“I understand, but I am finished.”

“Oh, well. Bring it up then.”

Everyone's stares boar hatefully into your back as you gave the chip to him, Toby piping up as well, raising his hand. “Are you finished as well Toby?”

“Yes sir, and I’d like to leave,” He said, handing the chip in beside you. “For rocket science, it wasn’t actually rocket science.”

You had already moved silently away, exiting the classroom before the teacher noticed you. Yet you could hear a distant, “Good luck guys!” and something thudding against the door.

The teacher sighs in exasperation. He can’t believe there are two of them in this class now. When he put in Toby’s quiz, it read 100% as expected. He wondered if you got a bad score, and had just gone through it to leave class early, but your test came up as 100% as well.

“Hey, wait up!” Toby pulls his red hat over his head, labeled Ministry of Science. 

You slowed, letting the boy catch up to you. “Your Remi Elefun? Like, related to Dr. Elefun? How come I’ve never heard of you before?”

“If you must know, Toby Tenma, I had requested the Doctor to keep me out of his conversations. I would still be homeschooled if his projects hadn’t taken up so much of his time.”

He nervously rubs the back of his neck. “O..kay…? Do you have a problem with me or something?” 

“Or something.” You scoff. “Like you do not have sins on your back as well.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Thousands of robots are thrown away down to the surface below! Could you imagine what you’d have to do to be kept sane with no tasks to drive you, or no direction to guide them!” You sniffle, rubbing your lids to prevent tears from falling. 

“Are you forgetting that robots don’t have feelings! They break down just like any other modern appliance we use and we get rid of them.”

“Your Dad’s company should be doing the planet that we were born from below a favor by recycling everything you throw away!”

The two of you had fought your way outside the school, a black levitating limousine. “Hello master toby, did you have a good day at-OOF!” 

Toby throws his bag at the bot, scowling in my direction. “We both know the ministry of science doesn’t have enough funds to space on any ‘eco-friendly projects’. Besides, it’s not like we’ll ever end living down there. Get real. Come on Orrin.” He grumpily gets in the car crossing his arms.

“Oh! Uh, Bye Master Toby’s Friend!”

“That’s not my friend!”

“Oh, master toby! Forgive him, he’s just saying things out of anger.” 

The bot named Orrin closes the door, rolling over and taking his seat in the front. You frown. Of course, they would have a nanny bot. You pull out a device from your pocket, click the button and wait for your AI car to arrive through the air traffic and to your school.

The limousine drives into traffic, and soon after your dark, an almost purple teeny-tiny car arrives, and you step into the passenger's seat. The interior a slick, dark gray. “Elizabeth. Pull up my dad’s calendar for today.”

The car dings, and on the screen, pull up a long list. “Show appointments happening right now.” 

Ah, Dr. Elefun is at the Ministry of Science. A presentation of the Piece Keeper? That’s happening today? “Elizabeth, take me to the nearest fast food drive, and then the Ministry of Science and allow access to my card.” Another ding, and a vuring sound as it produces your card, with your face and Id. 

Pulling it out also produces a neckband, so that you can easily put it around your neck and enjoy the ride to decompress. Eating a little before slipping on a political mask.

You exit the car at the ministry, clicking a button to send your car home and breezily walking up to the entrance. The guards happily greet you as you swipe your card for access. “Do you mind directing me to where the meeting is happening today?” You ask pleasantly. 

One guard in full armor stands before you. “Right this way Remi!” He stiffly marches in rhythm as he leads you where you were sure to bump into Dr. Tenma and President Stone. As soon as you step from the elevator, you hear a familiar voice call, “Dad!”

“Hold that Kid!” The guard says. 

To see Toby held upside down was a treat in itself, but as you got closer you could hear the ensuing conversation between father and son. “What are you doing here? I gave Orrin specific instructions to…”

The bot kept repeatedly wheeling and bumping himself into the wall, “ow, ow, ow.” 

“I wanted to see the demonstration. You’re always talking about the peacekeeper and…”

“Your boy?” The president asks.

“Yes sir.” Dr. Tenma replies. 

You step sweetly in, “Well, He did get through all the trouble to get her Sir.” The guard beside you salutes the president, before making they’re way back down to the lower corridors. “I think It would be a good learning experience for him Mr. President.”

“And you are?”

You hold out your hand, adopting a cutesy posture. “Remi Elefun. I’m currently helping the ministry build Project E Helicopter, as well as designer of the peacekeeper.”

“Ah yes, the teen genius” The man seemed very pleased by this, shaking your hand politely. “I’ve heard much about you. Come join us, and let him tag along.”

Pleased you step alongside the president as he walks down the hallways. “Releasing potential threat!” 

You hear Toby run up beside his dad, and both of you share a glare between each other before walking along. “So you're interested in robots, son? Robot weapons?” 

“Absolutely, though I’m sure you’ll agree that the D-class Interceptor underlying deployment-to-target system is quite old fashion.”

The president grumbles. “At least Remi has the right idea.” ordering his guards, “Take this boy to a safe place and keep him there.”

“What the…” Toby gets grabbed by a guard. “Dad!”

“I think it’s for the best Toby.” Dr. Tenma says quietly. 

“But that isn’t fair- you said I could see the peacekeeper!”

“You still can,” the president quips, “on tonight's news with everyone else.” 

You could hear the sigh of irritation from Toby as he gets led away. At least he was gone now, and you could be left in peace. 

\---

Dr. Elefun began his presentation, walking to the side of the stage and clicking a button to turn off the lights. “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the Blue Core Energy.” You sat forward in your set beside the president, intrigued. Everyone admires the round blue light above them. Nothing like this has ever existed before.

“Blue core energy, a new self-sustaining power source much stronger than nuclear energy and infinitely cleaner.” The screen changes to a meteor burning up in space. “The raw materials came from space. A fragment of a star millions of lightyears away that no longer exists.”

He walks over to the fist-sized ball of blue light. “This is now all that’s left of it. Properly harnessed, this sphere could transform not only Metro City, but life for the Surface, as well. It-”

He gets interrupted by the president walking in, you meeting your father's eyes in apology. Dr. Elefun’s lips press into a line, but the diagram behind him lights up with information that you easily read over. You have the first part of the presentation recorded, you’ll have little problem catching up.

“Imagine cleaning up Earth’s water. Imagine bringing back the forests, Imagine overcoming the effects of centuries of pollution.”

“I know he’s a bit of a dreamer,” Dr. Tenma mutters to the president, standing in the back of the auditorium. “But he’s a brilliant scientist.” You press your lips in anger. Dr. Elefun was only doing his part in restoring the word we destroyed. 

“He’s a dangerous idiot who happens to have a high IQ. At least his kid has done some productive work for our country!” The man ruffles your hair effectively, and you let it slide for the fact getting closer to the president could mean that you could secure Dr. Elefun's funding.

“When we extracted the positive blue energy from the fragment, we were left with this highly unstable by-product, negative red energy.” Rapidly reading the info on the screen causes you to frown. When the extracted the red energy from the blue, more blue energy is still left behind compared to the smaller negative energy.

“I like that one,” Stone says. “Women voters are partial to the color red, you know.” You have to throw that statement out of your mind as soon as you hear it.

“Until we discover how to safely dispose of it… what..” The guards around the doctor on stage from both sides, grabbing each core and moving them closer together. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as the intensity of it all increases. 

Dr. Elefun shoves the two men apart, “What are you doing? Stop! Keep the cores apart or you’ll kill us all!”

You hurriedly catch up to them at the front of the stage as the president waves his hands carelessly. “Do as he says.” He really doesn’t understand how close we were to death just then. 

The army men walk away, and Dr. Elefun’s anger is coming off him in waves. “This is outrageous! What are you intending to do with it?” 

He chuckles. “I’m going to give the people of this city a reason to re-elect me.”

“How?”

“The only way you can, Doctor. I’m gonna kick some butt.”

Dr. Elefun glares at the man, and you have to stay passive. He doesn’t say anything as Tenma quickly moves the conversation on, leading everyone to the lab to show off the newest weapon. You stick to Dr. Elefun’s side.

As the doors open, he’s talking in hushed whispers to the other. “As one friend to another, don’t do this, Tenma.”

“Oh, come on, Elefun. Even your kid knows, without military funding, all of our research, including yours, would grind to a halt.”

“Hold on,” The president stops Tenma from touching the holographic command board, turning to you. “If you had oversight on this project, then I would like you to do the honors.” You look over to Elefun, seeing him telling you with his brows that you didn’t need to do this if you didn’t want to.

Yet you had to look good infront of the president.

You hover your fingers above the board, then with a few clicks, you can see the light turn on in front of you. “Please start it up.”

The girl in the chair does so, having the peacekeeper in front of you move forward in alignment with the two cores. It spun around until it faced you, and then dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

It straightened up. You had its body inspired by the old superman comics in the 20th century, yet you made sure it was more robot than anything else. Blue pupils glowing ominously. “Load the blue core.”

The robot’s metal feet stomped on the ground as the robotic arm from within its chest reached out to the larger, blue orb. “Now hold on,” the robot froze, everyone turning to the president in frustration or form of disbelief. “This Blue Core, it’s all sweetness and light right?” 

“Yes sir.” You say, urging him to get to the point.

“Call me a dreamer, but I think we’ll get more bang for our buck if we use the red one.”

You giggled along with Elefun’s sarcastic laughter until he stopped “Oh, you're not joking.”

“Sir we’re not putting something that dangerous into something… that dangerous.” At least he is trying to be the voice of reason.

“Listen Tenma, I’ve got an election to win. I need my robot to be a fighter, not a lover.” The president moves over to the scientist on the control stick, “load the red one.”

The woman glares up at him. “I won’t.” The robot’s cavity isn’t designed to hold the smaller red orb, it would be loose in its chest during battle.

“Well, then I’ll do it. Move over sweetheart.” He shoves the women out of her chair and takes over.

“Hey!”

You step away from the board, feeling ill. There’s more than a probable chance that you’ll be associated with the disaster that’s going to follow from this.

“No!” The guards force Elefun from stopping the man, and you calmly raise your hands to not let the guard touch you. Once they see you moving further away from the president, you lean against the back wall with a huff.

“Hah! It’s like a video game!” He says, guiding the peacekeeper to the red core. You were going to find a way to get the word out that this man’s power has gone to his head. The robot’s arm grabs the core, bringing it into its chest and locking it away.

“Core loaded.” The bot speaks, it’s eyes now a deep red.

“Peace of cake.” 

You no longer had an interest in the ensuing destruction of your precious drones. The robot had a special built-in ‘adaptive technology’. It can absorb any tech and use it for its own; meaning more work for you when you need to rebuild them. Instead, you freeze in shock as you see Toby carefully sneak behind the guards, the two idiot's deep in conversation. 

You come up behind him as he gets closer and hides behind a short wall, and slam your hand over his mouth as he goes to scream. “What are you doing you idiot!” You lowly yell at him. 

He yanks your hands away, frowning. “I just wanted to get a closer look!”

“Well you’re going to yourself killed that thing-”

Both heads whip around to see emergency bulletproof glass door slide down, the robot crashing against it and sparks straining the edges. Panic chokes you as Toby runs to the glass, frantically pounding.

“Dad! Dad!”

Elefun and Tenma mouthed both your names, him hitting to try and open it, but when it didn’t, you knew your fate had been sealed.

“Toby!” You cry, tears spilling down your cheeks. “It won’t open!”

“I don’t believe you! DAD!”

The two of you huddled together when the robot smashed its fist against the glass, you sobbing and Toby holding you into a hug against the hall, nearest to the glass. 

“Dad!” You cried out, staring in desperation at Elefun as Tenma pressed up against the glass.

“We’re going to get you out!” Tenma croaked. “I promise!”

A red light flashed in the corner of your vision, and you shoved your face deep into Toby’s jacket, not wanting to see the end.

The room became engulfed in the red light, and the occupants horrified to see both the teens missing, the machine standing alone.

“Toby!” “Remi!”

It began to absorb the shield in front of it to escape, as the previous attempt failed. The president pointed as soon as able. “Fire now.” Elefun ducked under the firing squad shooting thought opening, where the machine stood without damage, stopped in place.

The shorter scientist noticed the two cords for the cores and unplugged the blue one. He dragged it over and shoved it into the robot's chest, where the energy neutralized each other, exploding and throwing it back.

In bated breath, everyone waited for thing to get back up, but it was over. The screen moved back up. The guards moved to protect the president as he moved closer to the bot, the two fathers scanning the room.

“Where’s Toby? Where’s my son?”

They both walked over to where a silver hair clip and a red science cap lay discarded. Elefun carefully picked up the pin with shaking hands. “Oh, sweetheart…”

Tenma passes his friend, gathering up the hat and clutching it to his chest. “Toby,” he whispers, heartbroken. “It’s all my fault.” He huffs, squeezing away his tears.

“Don’t say that.” Elefun mutters, “Cause that means- it’s my fault too.”

The taller man chokes on his tears, and the room shares a grieving silence for the two lost souls.

\---

The lab had been quiet the months following the accident. Soon passer Byers hurried pass the fight coming from within. “I won’t allow you to this Tenma! You’re so wrapped up in your grief that you don’t comprehend the ramifications that’ll come from this!!”

“Don’t you think I know that? And Look! It might be crazy enough to work! See?” The taller doctor shows Elefun the diagram of Toby, with all of the parts on the inside along with a holding cell for the large blue core.

The smaller man sighs as if the wind was taken from his sails. “If you do this, I need to be a part of it… and I want you to find a way to get both of our kids back.”

After that small agreement between them, both worked side by side without rest. Designs made and thrown away, all watched by a silver hairpin and red science cap.

Each robot on the table was designed by their separate fathers, Remi having a slimmer build with more springs to withstand higher jumps in their legs, giving the illusion of curvature. In their hands and feet lay a little gift that Elefun had given his kid. Their hands by far took the longest, but in the end, he was proud.

Tenma finished up placing the parts he needed for Toby in his legs, their other scientists' conversation unintelligible to his ears. “They’ve been working on this for three months.”

“They haven’t even eaten or slept for days.”

“I can’t believe they're almost done. They’ve gone crazy.”

With an excited walk, he goes to the container holding Remi 's hair clip, extracting a sliver of red hair and depositing the DNA. Above them flashes memories of Remi short life, temporarily being in an adoption center until you meet Dr. Elefun during the international science fair. A happier life living with Elefun as you got to do all the things you loved.

As that uploads to Remi’s robot, he takes a moment to mourn the loss of his kid, delicately picking up the red hat and finding the brown strand of hair. He repeats the process for his kid, each light flashing as it confirms the download. 

Elefun comes inside the lab with the door sliding close behind him, and the people moving out of the way as he makes his way to Tenma. 

“How did it go?” Tenma questions, wearily rubbing the crust from his eyes as he places a white container on the table.

“Surprisingly well.”

“You mean-” He nods.

“Just in time. Clear the lab!”

Everyone but the two of them leaves, the gray-haired man watching as the flexible metal inserter slides over the two of them, from their feet to their heads.

Toby’s skin has large red boots going up to his knees, black shorts, and a green belt. On Remi, they have slim azure blue boots up to their ankles, and white shorts. Other than that, each robot looked eerily similar to their counterparts. 

“We outdid ourselves,” Elefun says listlessly, staring down at his teen. 

“It’ll think it is Toby,” Tenma says breathlessly. 

“We shouldn’t expect too much from this.” He warns, frowning.

“Both have the most advanced defense systems ever created, we won’t have to lose them again!”

The shorter man says nothing, setting the white case on the table and opening it up. Two smaller blue orbs glowing vibrantly. “I don’t… we shouldn’t be doing this. The core will make it-”

“Perfect!” Tenma shouts, quietly adding on, “It’ll make them perfect.”

Carefully, he takes the two orbs in each hand and places each in their separate hosts. He slips the laches closed, and backs away as the chargers come down to grab on both, and pulls them in the air.

In their chests glow the orb, sparking blue lightning up the cables and to the whole lab as it charges them up. Soon the systems become overwhelmed, sparking and breaking, a cable snapping.

Remi swings dangerously into toby, bumping a cable off of him. The two lights find each other, creating a large lighting path between the two and in a large circle around them as the power gives out.

Metallic clunks on the ground, both the robots now lying still. In sync, both robots pushed themselves up, blue eyes glowing unseeingly, without expression. They blinked uncomfortably, and the glow was gone.

“Dad?” Toby asks, bewildered. You softly sit on your heels, not registering your surroundings.

You whimper, in distress, climbing to your feet but somehow finding your body off balance. “Whoa-!” You look to see him also struggling to stand, and you both tumble into each other, falling to the ground. 

Tenma gathers his son from the ground, embracing him. “Welcome back, son.” You get support from Elefun's hand as you stand on wobbly knees, eventually just picking you up bridal style, smiling down at you.

You flush from the attention, turning away. “If you keep smiling like that you’ll pull something.”

The doctor chuckles, not taking brushing off your comment as he usually would. He doesn’t look like he had been sleeping. “Incredible.”

You meet the boy’s eyes, seeing him get carried away by D. Tenma. “Bye Guys.”

You try to wave, but your hand remains frustratingly limp. “Let’s go home.” Says Elefun warmly.

“That sounds nice.” You mutter, feeling sleepy all at once.


	2. Chapter 2

Morning came in the dark of night, the light yet to have reached your window. Lazily, you take a moment to stretch out and stare up at the ceiling. This morning you felt refreshed like you could do anything.

You remembered pulling on some clothes before you fell asleep. Now that you were aware, they felt tight and uncomfortable, you had to wear something else. Starting to dig through your wardrobe, throwing out all the tight clothing with a huff.

Didn’t you have anything decent to wear? A pair of baggy sweatpants, and a baggy plain t-shirt. Perfect! Soon after you change, you’re nearly comfortable, but something is still off. 

Huffing, you adjust your hair over your shoulders, in front, on one side. You didn’t like it, so you gave up and tied your hair into a bun. You’ll have to ask your Dad to get you some new clothes when he had the time. 

Now you felt comfortable. So you leave your room to find the house still quiet. Dad still must be asleep. What were you going to do? 

You enter the kitchen humming, pulling out ingredients. A home-cooked meal would always set a happier tone in the house, and you wouldn’t mind making something. 

Before you know it, Elefun is standing outside the kitchen talking in the utter destruction that had taken over. A large buffet of dishes laying out on the counters. You smiled like the sun, mixing something in a large bowl.

“Morning Dad! There’s coffee if you want it.”

“Goodmorning? What… have you been doing?”

You flush in embarrassment. “I woke up kinda early, so I decided to do something. Hungry?”

You set his plate on the table and his coffee along with any condiments. “Eat up!”

Elefun sits down in the daze, tasting the food and gobbling up more. “Thank you y/n. Don’t you have to be at school?”

You gasp, throwing down the bowl and rushing out of the room. Soon your back with your backpack, dashing out of the room. “Iforgot,sorrytoleaveyouwiththemess BYE!”

He sits there, feeling stirred at the whirlwind that just occurred, and the large mess he’ll have to clean up. Grief covers his thoughts as the black coffee blinks back at him. Y/n hadn’t been so absent-minded before… always so uptight and precise.

“She even forgot her hair clip…”

You throw your bag in the car, fumbling with the button to get the car started. The car speeding off into traffic, you sigh. “Hello y/n! Emotion: It’s great to see you again!”

You scream, and the car responds, deploying large weapons from the cockpit. “No enemies detected, would you still like to engage?

“No,” You climb to the front, frantic. “No! Disengage!”

“Of course y/n.”

You can’t believe it listens to you, turning back into a normal car. You know for a fact that you didn’t install a voice command system. “Pull over!”

It does so, pulling into one of the many stops on the side of traffic, a panic attack quickly setting in. There had to be some kind of explanation, right? Not like you could be going crazy, maybe Elefun had installed it for you?

He would have told you if it was a gift. He doesn’t touch your projects because you had asked, so he wouldn’t do this right?

“y/n? Please return to the vehicle. You are thirty minutes and counting, late to your school.”

“Just give me a minute!” You plead, scrubbing at your eyes. Think y/n, what had happened today? What changed?

You had gotten into a large argument with your Dad about your education. Already you were making yourself known in the scientific community, why did you need to go to school and sit down for hours on end?

Yet he had insisted, and you knew once he would push, he wasn’t going to give up so easily. So eventually after a week, you had given in. Your schedule had to change around school, and you remembered hating it.

Then, have you started your first day? Not yet, this would be your first day. If it wasn’t… you pull out your bag and flip through the notebooks, finding them filled with notes for some classes. It drops from your hand, and you rub your arms.

He had promised… no more lies. He had told you that he would always tell you the truth. Everything pointed to him hiding something, but you didn’t want to believe it. He had been acting strange today as if he had seen a ghost.

No, whatever it is, school is not going to help you figure out what it is. You gather your button, and shut the car door. “y/n? Please return to the vehicle. You are thirty-five minutes and counting, late to your school.”

“Sorry,” You mumble, clicking the button. “I can’t let him know where I’ve gone.”

The car drives off, and you find yourself on the side of speeding traffic, the city bustling once more. There was only one place you could go to get answers, so you begin your trek. 

\---  
()

Tenma had just sat down on his couch, Toby sent to his room. Almost about to call Elefu when his screen comes up calling him first, and he answers.

“Hey, I was just about to call you.”

“Tenma! I need you to tell me, have you seen y/n yet?”

He frowns at his friends' worried tone, seeing the lines of stress in the man's shoulders. “No, I haven’t.”

The man sighs. “I got called and the school told me she didn’t show up. I’m going to keep looking for them. Is there something you want to talk about?”

“It’s nothing,” The tall man brushes it off, “You find your kiddo first.”

“We’ve talked about this,” Elefun says blandly.

“Fine… It just… I thought he would be like Toby, but he’s not. He’s strange,” He flops back into the couch with a hand covering his face. “He’s very strange.”

“Strange as in… not quite them? Somehow different.”

“Yeah.” He runs his hands down his face and looks tiredly at his friend who echoes his exhaustion. “I think we’ve made a terrible mistake.”

“We can’t take it back now, and besides, we really shouldn’t have expected them to be an exact carbon copy-”

“That was the point! It’s supposed to replace Toby, but every time I look at him it just reminds me that he’s gone, and he’s never coming back.” He grimaces, seeing the utter depression on his friend's face. “Wait, I didn’t mean-”

“Call me if you see y/n.” He hangs up before Tenma can get another word in. He’s been messing up a lot today.

()  
\---

It took about an hour on foot to get to the Ministry of Science. 

It was your father's life, surely something would give you a clue. After all, you had woken up there. Maybe you had passed out there? You smile at the front desk lady, who plasticity smiles back. “Card please.”

You hand her you hard, to hear the denied noise and her turning the card back. “I’m sorry, but your access has been declined. Reach our number for our services regarding this issue.”

Shame burned as you snatched it back, pacing across the floor. He was hiding something, and whatever that is, he doesn’t want you to get into his lab. You snap out of it, smiling at the lady as she watches you warily. No need to get her any more suspicious.

“Thank you for your time.” You say politely and exit the building, taking a moment to look up at the tall tower. There wasn’t a way for you to get from one building to the next, so the only choice was climbing.

You sigh. At least they didn’t have any defense systems for the outside. A big flaw in their system that you're going to use to your advantage. Scaling something this big had you nervous, but the itching need to know what Elefun was hiding urged you on.

Climbing felt like flying, the winds messing with your hair and taking it out of its bun. It gets into your sight, and you nearly tumble if it weren’t for your quick reflexes. Maybe you have been sick recently? You have been feeling strange.

Incredulity, you had made it to the main lab’s floor, a window conveniently open. You collapse inside, faceplanting to the floor. You scramble to your feet embarrassed. Lucky there was no one here to see that.

There, everything in the lab was dark, few lights coming from the monitors. You quickly go to one, stopped by a password. You frown. Should you risk entering your password and getting locked out? You decided to hack into it, easily getting in and viewing the files.

Had they begun on a new project they didn’t tell you about? A new file rested on the desktop, plain as day. You hesitate over clicking. You betray Elefuns trust by doing this, but he was the one who hurt you first.

You click, and a diagram displays. Sickness threatens to escape as you read over the information. A robot with intentional human design. The most complex systems seen to date, as far as you were aware. Trembling, you click the mouse, your horrified to see that he was designed.. After a human boy?

They had been working on this project for months. Why? You’ve never seen or heard of this project taking place while you were in the lab. Who was the boy?

The next click echoed in the quiet. It was you, a slimmer model with far more springs and delicate designs in the hands and feet. You withheld your gag and stepped away from the monitor. What did they do to you?

All you could recall from yesterday was waking up in the lab. You were so tired -the whole thing a bit of a blur- and grateful that Elefun had carried you home like he had done when you were a kid. Honestly, you didn’t think much of it.

Your hands tremble. Had they turned you into a robot? They couldn’t- wouldn’t. It was unethical. However, if Elefun worked with Tenma, then both of them would have the clearance to…

The door to the room slides open, and you frightenedly duck behind the nearest counter. They couldn’t have seen you- right? You hid in time, didn’t you?

“y/n?” You relax a fraction. It was just your Dad. Then you tense, face becoming hot. “y/n? I know you’re here. Please, let me explain.”

Reluctantly, you stand up and glare at him with tears burning your eyes. Shame washes over you for him seeing you like this, and his softening expression. “Why?” You call out, the salt dripping down your face.

“y/n- something…. There was an accident.” He softly says. “A few months ago two children got caught in the crossfire of an experiment. I- I’m sorry.”

You sniff. “But you promised.” He goes rigid, seeing the impending storm. “YOU PROMISED!” You scream. “I just wanted to be with ma and daddy.”

Sobbing, he steps forward to you, but you move away. “No, just-” you fumble with your pocket, pulling out your car and frantically clicking the button.

“That won’t work,” He says calmly, “Please y/n, calm down, you’re not thinking rationally.”

“Rationally!?!?” You screech, throwing down the remote and having it crack on the floor. “You turned me into a monster!”

“y/n! What happened to your parents was an accident. The self-driving AI was still in its development.”

“But it killed them because everyone was too quick to have a damn flying car,” You hopelessly mutter. “That’s what happens if AI doesn't have a fail switch.” He moves closer to comfort you, but you step away again. “I need some time, alone.”

“Ok. Tell me that you’ll come home?” You look down at the ground, thinning your lips. He exhales. “Be safe, y/n. Know that you’ll always have a place with me.”

You want to huff. He’s mainly saying that because he knows he can’t stop you. If you were determined to not be somewhere, then nothing could stop you from running away. You hear the door close, and you sniff, sliding down to the ground. 

What are you going to do now? Nowhere to go, and nothing to gain. Could you turn down the chance to have a home? The pain in your chest says otherwise, and you gather the rope and make your way down to the ground.

There wasn’t a sure chance that the front desk lady would take you to the cops. On the streets, you relaxed into the crowd, happy to be temporarily anonymous. One place you had thought about was the surface.

No one wanted to talk about the people down below that we constantly poured garbage over. The possible situation of poverty and sickness, a definite. Yet, everyone in the sky did nothing. Leaving the small population down below to suffer.

Yet, if you were to go down there, you truly could do anything you wanted, You peeked at your broken remote now with regret. Surely there was some rope around here to make your way down safely. 

Walking down the street you eventually flow with the crowd, the families ignoring your existents as they had their own lives. You enjoyed the brief anonymity it brings you, however, that disappears the further you get closer to the outskirts. Darkness quickly engulfed the city.

You kept note of all the differences you displayed. Lack of aching in your legs from such a long walk, nor a soreness in your arms from scaling a literal building. The fact you had climbed it at all was astounding. You were never the one for physical strength.

There was no pang of hunger as you reached the edge, sighing and slumping down and throwing your legs over to dangle. Staring up at the sky covered in pollution, no stars in sight. You had dreamed of seeing them one day. Having them so close you could reach out and touch them, but despite humanity's advancements, they were a bit slower on the rocket ships.

Neck prickling, and a bright light shining over your vision, you squint at who could be bothering you at such a late time. Shouldn’t everyone be sleeping? A gun is charged, pointing right at you, the sleek downwards design stating that these were military helicopters.

“This is Stinger One, get ready for capture.” 

.”Welp, I’m in danger.”


End file.
